edHelper.com
Music

The Musical Glass

The Musical Glass
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   3.74

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    armonica, clop, pianoforte, songbird, lower, beloved, pumped, violin, workshop, musical, music, onto, sized, virtual, doing, anytime
     content words:    Mary Elizabeth, Her Uncle Ben Franklin, Uncle Ben, With Mary, Franklin Institute Online

Print The Musical Glass
edHelper.com subscriber options:
     Print The Musical Glass  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
     Quickly print reading comprehension
     Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on The Musical Glass
     Leave your feedback on The Musical Glass  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

The Musical Glass
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     Mary Elizabeth loved music. She was happy when she heard lovely sounds. She waited to hear the birds sing outside her window in the spring. She listened for the cricket's song when she swept the hearth in her mother's kitchen. The horses passing her papa's store made a "clip clop" sound. That was a song to Mary Elizabeth. These songs made her heart fill with joy.
 
2     Mary Elizabeth had only one wish. She wanted to make music on her own. She couldn't sing very well. Her brother, Matthew, had said, "You sound like the cat when Nana stepped on its tail." Her papa had told her to hum when they sang hymns at church. She loved music so much. Why couldn't she make music on her own?
 
3     Mary Elizabeth knew where to go when she was sad. Her Uncle Ben Franklin could always make her smile. She would find something exciting at Uncle Ben's workshop. In one corner was a rod to make electricity from lightning. He invented a big iron stove. It was used to keep him warm in his workshop. Best of all, Uncle Ben loved music just like Mary Elizabeth.
 
4     One morning, Mary Elizabeth stood outside Uncle Ben's workshop. She could hear him humming to himself. She knew something fun was going to happen. She opened the door and saw Uncle Ben at his work table. Oh, no! What had happened? Broken glasses were everywhere. There were big glasses, little glasses, and middle sized glasses spread out on his table. Wait a minute. Only the stems that held the glasses up were broken off. What was Uncle Ben doing?
 
5     Uncle Ben saw the puzzled look on Mary Elizabeth's face. "Come, little songbird," he said. "I will show you how we can make beautiful music. We will use what is broken. We can turn it into something good."

Paragraphs 6 to 14:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Copyright © 2008 edHelper